Bios: Winfield Scott Fletcher, 1846-1936: Bedford Twp, Bedford Co, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Alexander Fletcher Christensen. Huaxyacac@aol.com USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. Clipping in the possession of my grandmother, from an unnamed newspaper, shortly after May 20, 1935. At 89, Recalls Stirring Days of Rebellion. Memories of daring cavalry exploits in Civil War days are fresh in the mind of Winfield Scott Fletcher, retired Bedford wagonmaker, who last Monday celebrated his 89th birthday with radiant hopes of "living to have possibly 10 more birthdays." Enlisting with other Bedford boys in July, 1863, Mr. Fletcher served two years and four months in Company I, 22nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, under Gen. Phil Sheridan. Though he was never wounded, he had numerous close calls the most notable of them on a day when his horse was twice wounded. That was at Berryville, W. Va.. in 1864, as a cavalry troop with which he served was retreating under heavy fire from three sides. "In the morning," as the venerable Bedford man tells the story, "my horse had an ear shot off; I was close by but was not struck. That afternoon, while I was mounted, a ball struck my horse in the nose, deflected and inflicted a shoulder wound upon a horse on which Captain Lyon, for whom I was an orderly, was seated. We were in a hasty retreat at the time, because of the Rebels having a larger force and occupying strategic positions. The next day Captain Lyon, who was a Bedford merchant, asked me to bring his horse, which was his private property, back to Bedford. He was unable to get me a pass, but we decided to take a chance and I set out with a pass which he personally wrote. At McConnellsburg, late in the afternoon, I was stopped and placed under technical arrest. I war not closely watched and got away. I spent that night at a friend's home nearby, We were awakened early the next morning by a squad of soldiers and I was taken back to McConnellsburg. Again I left without interference and reached Bedford safely. I then had to walk 16 miles to Hagerstown to get transportation to Martinsburg, W. Va., where I reported to Captain Lyon that I had fulfilled his mission. Both of the wounded horses recovered." Mr. Fletcher vividly remembers Cedar Creek, Va., where General Sheridan leaped into fame by his ride from Winchester, for the terror which a surprise attack struck into the Union Army, demoralizing it completely. "Early on the morning of September 9, 1864, the Confederates drove off our pickets and swarmed upon us. The slaughter was terrific. We were routed and the situation was gloomy. Then Phil Sheridan came up on his foaming black charger, got a fresh horse and, boy, what a fight it was from then on. How we did cheer when he passed us, rallying the line as he went. It was one of the most thrilling moments of my life." Private Fletcher's company campaigned the length and breadth of the Shenandoah Valley, fought General Early's army for 60 days, "tangled" with cavalrymen of Jack Mosby and Jeb Stuart, two Rebel guerrilla leaders, and in all took part in 22 scraps. Fletcher and his comrades had a wholesome respect for Mosby, knowing he meant full well his threat "to string up any of the Yankee lads he caught." Mr. Fletcher enjoyed out-of-the-ordinary freedom as regimental mail carrier. A younger brother, Jacob, enlisting at 16, spent six months in Winfield Fletcher's company and reenlisted in the infantry. Winfield Scott Fletcher was born May 20, 1846, at Ray's Hill, 18 miles east of Bedford, on the Lincoln Highway. Working at farming as a boy, he turned to the wagon-making industry in 1868 and spent 60 years in that occupation before his retirement seven years ago. The century-old shop in which he toiled still stands, the business operated by his son, Ard[more] C. Fletcher. In the earliest part of his career as a builder only heavy road wagons were made, every part by hand. "I had to do all the work myself, from chopping down the trees to hewing them into the proper shapes," he recalls. "At that time sections of Bedford, now built up, were covered by timber, butthe roads, or what they called roads, were most of the time impassable. It took two weeks at theleast to construct one wagon. After I was in the business some years I started to manufacture farm and lumber wagons." Mr. Fletcher was married to Mary Miller, who died 30 years ago. Their children are Mrs. W[illiam]. W[allace]. Brook[e], wife of Dr. Brook[e] of Bayonne, N. J.; Mayme and Ross C. Fletcher, who live with him in the home he built in 1881 at 210 N. Thomas Street and since has occupied, and Ard[more] C. Fletcher, also of Bedford. All were present. with some of his five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, at a birthday dinner Monday. Mr. Fletcher was highly pleased at receiving 15 birthday cards and chuckles over the fact that "13 of them came from women." Always a Democrat in politics, he served as Bedford councilman 25 years ago and was defeated for a second term by J. Ross Stivers, who was serving as county commissioner when he died recently. Explaining that "I have always fought it out myself and will continue to do so," Mr. Fletcher does not have any church affiliation but is a firm believer in God. He boasts of moderation in the use of tobacco and strong spirits over a long period of years, and to his well-ordered mode of life gives credit for his excellent health today.